EBRD pledges support for reforms that unlock investment to Romania

The president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Suma Chakrabarti, pledged support for Romania’s efforts to pursue pro-business reforms, address the country’s infrastructure needs and encourage investment in human and physical capital.

Chakrabarti visited Bucharest on January 14 for meetings with the country’s new Government, the EBRD announced. The discussions focused on the investment climate, sustainable infrastructure investment, and corporate finance, both for expansion of local companies and in support of increased foreign investment.

The EBRD president welcomed the agenda of the new administration in Bucharest and the recent reversal of a series of taxes on the banking, energy and telecommunications sectors. He urged the authorities to foster the anti-corruption drive without freezing decision-making and implementation processes. He also called for improved governance of state-owned enterprises, making them more efficient and profitable, paving the way to further listings and boosting the local capital markets.

“Romania needs to step up public investments that boost human and physical capital – public services, roads, railways, health and education – while making the most of EU structural funds and the country’s dynamic private sector,” Chakrabarti said in Bucharest.

(Photo source: Gov.ro)